Anderon Silva is in favor of bringing back testosterone-replacement therapy (TRT) to the UFC like it was before USADA.
Silva was set to fight Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC Shanghai back in November 2017. But a positive test for a banned substance would lead to “The Spider” receiving a suspension. However, in late 2018, Silva would be exonerated due to tainted supplements.
This would be the second run in Silva would have with USADA. The first being a positive test after his bout with Nick Diaz back in January 2015. The consensus middleweight GOAT would like to see things go back to the way they were prior to USADA.
“There are some athletes who need to make use of the hormonal replacement,” Silva told Rap 77. “I think if USADA regulated that, we’d have the sport at a high level with athletes who have stopped fighting. Vitor [Befort], for example. Even me, though I never had the replacement. But some athletes who really need it, who are older. Dan Henderson, many other athletes who have stopped because of this.”
Silva went on to explain why MMA is different than other sports as he tried to make his case for the use of TRT.
“USADA’s entrance in the UFC to control the doping situation, the way I see it, was good,” Silva said. “But, in a certain way, it ends up being a disturbance. Because MMA isn’t a regular sport like all the others. It demands from the athlete fighting training, physical training. There are other countless technical valencies that they have to maintain [like] injuries, etc.
“I’m in favor of doping control, for sure. I think no athlete should or can be, on fight day, taking advantage of some situation. But I think they need to review this. Because there are many injuries, many athletes getting hurt, many fights getting canceled due to athletes getting injured, etc.
“For instance, you take a Tylenol, you can get caught in the doping.” Silva continued. “You take aspirin, you can get caught in the doping. There are many things, many medicines that the athlete uses, that they have to always be policing themselves… I’m not against USADA; I’m totally in favor, but I think there should be a certain [flexibility] when it comes to what is allowed and what isn’t.”
Silva will return to action at UFC 234 when he takes on Israel Adesanya. The match-up will be the co-main event on the pay-per-view card headlined by Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum.
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